This blog by Dr Paul Sterry follows two earlier ones; Toad Rage and Toad Rage 2. Paul Sterry has an academic background in freshwater biology and is a passionate conservationist. He has been writing about natural history and photographing wildlife for the last 40 years, with an emphasis on the British scene. One way or…
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Guest blog by anonymous.
Mark writes: I don’t normally publish anonymous guest blogs but in this case, knowing the circumstances, I can see why the person wishes to remain anonymous. And the text stands on its own. See also this recent blog on the same subject, from a different perspective, by our friends at Raptor Persecution UK. The New…
Paul Leyland – Owlfly Sulphur
Paul writes: this is a dramatic-looking creature, unfortunately not seen in the UK. It is an Owlfly (Ascalaphidae), Latin name Libelloides coccajus. The body has an overall length of 25mm and a wingspan of up to 55mm. The size together with the black and yellow colouring make it difficult to miss. At first it may…
Sunday book review – Green and Prosperous Land by Dieter Helm
This book, out of 25+ I reviewed in 2019, was the title I chose as my wildlife book of the year – I recommend it highly. You can buy this book from Bookshop.org and I have set up a booklist to make that easy through this link https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/MarkAvery Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org…
Tim Melling – Golden Takins
Tim writes: I came across two female Takins in the forest, and each female had a calf, one from this year and one from last year. The two-year old calf kept trying to show dominance over the younger calf, and this is the moment when the older calf with horns charged at the younger calf…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
I’ve been …
… where the Curlew have very long bills … Not much wildlife here… … but lots here … … and just seeing these gnawed trees was an enormous treat and excitement.
Guest blog – Forestry Commission response on hunting by Ian Gambles
Ian Gambles is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Forest Enterprise England. Forestry Commission response to Jack Riggall’s guest blog Jack Riggall raises some very important points in his guest blog and I feel it is important to separate them and be clear about who has responsibility for what. Basically, if anyone has evidence of…
Birdwatch March issue
The March Birdwatch looks very fresh and clean and comes in its new potato starch wrapper – but what about the articles? Dominic Mitchell mentions the recent acceptance of a bird close to the heart of many Northants birders – the Falcated Duck of 1986-87 and 1987-88. This was the first British record. Although the…
My garden birds – February 2019
This year I am keeping a list of birds seen in or from my garden. Well, I’m on a respectable but not very impressive 30 species so far, 24 in January with an additional 6 this month: Robin House Sparrow Jackdaw Blackbird Woodpigeon Starling Black-headed Gull Great Tit Red Kite Carrion Crow Chaffinch Goldfinch Rook…